Multi-step location specific process for substrate edge profile correction for gcib system

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are an apparatus, system, and method for scanning a substrate or other workpiece through a gas-cluster ion beam (GCIB), or any other type of ion beam. The workpiece scanning apparatus is configured to receive and hold a substrate for irradiation by the GCIB and to scan it through the GCIB in two directions using two movements: a reciprocating fast-scan movement, and a slow-scan movement. The slow-scan movement is actuated using a servo motor and a belt drive system, the belt drive system being configured to reduce the failure rate of the workpiece scanning apparatus.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/548,550 filed Nov. 20, 2014, and entitled MULTI-STEPLOCATION SPECIFIC PROCESS FOR SUBSTRATE EDGE PROFILE CORRECTION FOR GCIBSYSTEM, which claims the benefit of and priority to filed ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/906,610 filed Nov. 20, 2013 and ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/915,894 filed Dec. 13, 2013. The disclosures areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety as if completely setforth herein below.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a system and method for irradiating substratesusing a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB), and more specifically to animproved apparatus, system, and method for scanning of a substratethrough the GCIB.

BACKGROUND

Gas cluster ion beams (GCIB's) are used for doping, etching, cleaning,smoothing, and growing or depositing layers on a substrate. For purposesof this discussion, gas clusters are nano-sized aggregates of materialsthat are gaseous under conditions of standard temperature and pressure.Such gas clusters may consist of aggregates including a few to severalthousand molecules, or more, that are loosely bound together. The gasclusters can be ionized by electron bombardment, which permits the gasclusters to be formed into directed beams of controllable energy. Suchcluster ions each typically carry positive charges given by the productof the magnitude of the electronic charge and an integer greater than orequal to one that represents the charge state of the cluster ion. Thelarger sized cluster ions are often the most useful because of theirability to carry substantial energy per cluster ion, while yet havingonly modest energy per individual molecule. The ion clustersdisintegrate on impact with the substrate. Each individual molecule in aparticular disintegrated ion cluster carries only a small fraction ofthe total cluster energy. Consequently, the impact effects of large ionclusters are substantial, but are limited to a very shallow surfaceregion. This makes gas cluster ions effective for a variety of surfacemodification processes, but without the tendency to produce deepersub-surface damage that is characteristic of conventional ion beamprocessing.

Related U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/565,267, entitled “METHODAND APPARATUS FOR SCANNING A WORKPIECE THROUGH AN ION BEAM”, filed onNov. 30, 2006, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,843 on Oct. 27, 2009, andincorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a workpiecescanning mechanism for scanning workpieces, such as wafers, substrates,etc., through a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB). The scanner describedtherein has two movements which in combination allow every point of theworkpiece to be reached by the GCIB. The first movement is a fastreciprocating movement of the workpiece through the GCIB (i.e. thefast-scan movement), with the workpiece attached to an arm akin to aninverted pendulum; the resultant path of the GCIB across the workpiecehaving an arcuate shape. The second movement is a slow linear movementof the center of rotation of the arm (i.e. the slow-scan movement),which causes different parallel arcuate paths to be traced by the GCIBacross the workpiece, thereby allowing processing of the entire area ofthe workpiece. The fast-scan movement motor and center of rotation ofthe arm holding the workpiece, of the embodiments described therein, ismounted on a shuttle of a vertical shuttle drive assembly, whereinupwards movement thereof is actuated by a slow-scan servo motor pullingthe shuttle upwards via a pulley and belt. Downwards movement, however,is accomplished by relying on gravity, i.e. the slow-scan servo motorunwinding the belt from the pulley, thereby allowing the shuttle,fast-scan motor, and arm to move together downwards.

Such a workpiece scanning mechanism has a number of drawbacks. Forexample, the slow-scan movement can only be in the vertical ornear-vertical direction, due to reliance on gravity for at least onedirection of the slow-scan movement. Secondly, contamination or failureof the shuttle drive assembly can cause the slow-scan movement to jam atsome position of the shuttle along the rail of the shuttle driveassembly, the force of gravity in some cases being unable to pull theshuttle, fast-scan motor, and arm downwards as the process reciperequires, resulting in a workpiece not being processed correctly. Evenworse, if gravity at some point does overcome the jammed shuttle, and ifa sufficient length of belt has been previously un-wound from thepulley, the entire shuttle, fast-scan motor, and arm carrying theworkpiece can suddenly free fall, causing excessive force to be appliedto the belt, pulley, and slow-scan servo motor, typically leading toslow-scan servo motor failure.

The present invention seeks to rectify the aforementioned shortcomingsof the gravity-assisted workpiece scanning mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One aspect of the invention is an apparatus for scanning a workpiecethrough a GCIB, comprising an elongated member adapted to mount aworkpiece; a rotational mechanism mounting the elongated member at apoint of rotation and configured to repetitively scan the workpiecethrough the GCIB along an arcuate path; a slow-scan mechanism suspendingthe elongated member and rotational mechanism, and configured to causelinear movement of the rotational mechanism and the elongated member, tocause different portions of the workpiece to pass through the GCIB, theslow-scan mechanism comprising a shuttle drive assembly having a railand a shuttle, the rotational mechanism being attached to and suspendedby the shuttle; a first pulley; a second pulley; a belt mounted over thepulleys and attached to the shuttle; and a drive mechanism to actuatethe belt.

Another aspect of the invention is an apparatus in which the drivemechanism comprises a servo motor having a drive shaft; a first sprocketattached to the drive shaft; a vacuum rotary feedthrough; a secondsprocket attached to the vacuum rotary feedthrough; and a geared beltmounted over the first and second sprockets.

Another aspect of the invention is a system for processing workpiecesusing a GCIB, comprising a nozzle to form a gas cluster beam from a gas;a skimmer for removing undesired gas clusters from the gas cluster beam;an ionizer to ionize the gas cluster beam and form a GCIB; anaccelerator to accelerate the GCIB; a workpiece scanning mechanismenclosed in a processing chamber and configured to scan the workpiecethrough the GCIB, the workpiece scanning mechanism comprising anelongated member adapted to mount a workpiece; a rotational mechanismmounting the elongated member at a point of rotation and configured torepetitively scan the workpiece through the GCIB along an arcuate path;a slow-scan mechanism suspending the elongated member and rotationalmechanism, and configured to cause linear movement of the rotationalmechanism and the elongated member, to cause different portions of theworkpiece to pass through the GCIB, the slow-scan mechanism comprising ashuttle drive assembly having a rail and a shuttle, the rotationalmechanism being attached to and suspended by the shuttle; a firstpulley; a second pulley; a belt mounted over the pulleys and attached tothe shuttle; and a drive mechanism to actuate the belt.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a method for scanning a workpiecethrough an ion beam, comprising the steps of mounting a workpiece withinan GCIB path at an end of an elongated member; partially, repetitivelyrotating the elongated member using a rotational mechanism attached to apoint of rotation on the elongated member, to make repetitive scans ofthe workpiece through the GCIB, along an arcuate path; moving theelongated member and rotational mechanism along a slow-scan mechanism,to which the rotational mechanism is attached and is suspended by, themoving causing different portions of the workpiece to pass through theGCIB path during the repetitive scans, the slow-scan mechanismcomprising a shuttle drive assembly having a rail and a shuttle, therotational mechanism being attached to and suspended by the shuttle; afirst pulley; a second pulley; a belt mounted over the pulleys andattached to the shuttle; and a drive mechanism to actuate the belt,wherein the moving includes actuating the drive mechanism and the beltso as to cause linear movement of the shuttle along the rail.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will become readily apparent with reference to thefollowing detailed description, particularly when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a multiple nozzle GCIB system in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a multiple nozzle GCIB system in accordancewith another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a multiple nozzle GCIB system in accordancewith yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic of an embodiment of an ionizer for use in a GCIBsystem.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematics of an embodiment of a workpiece scanningmechanism for use in a GCIB system.

FIG. 6 is a detailed and partial cut-away schematic of a slow-scanmechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a detailed schematic of a slow-scan mechanism in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a detailed schematic of a portion of a drive mechanism for aslow-scan mechanism in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are detailed schematics of a shuttle drive assembly inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary profile of beam intensity across a GCIB

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary circular scan of a substrate around aGCIB.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of the angular, distance, and velocityrelationships between the substrate and the GCIB during the circularscan.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a starting radius and an ending radiusfor the circular scan.

FIG. 14A illustrates a simplified exemplary embodiment of implementingthe circular scan on the substrate that has an exemplary thicknessprofile.

FIG. 14B illustrates an exemplary result of using the circular scan onthe thickness profile of the substrate.

FIG. 15 illustrates a GCIB energy distribution over the substrate regionbetween the starting radius and the ending radius.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary method of implementing the circularscan of the substrate using a GCIB system.

FIG. 17 illustrates another exemplary method of implementing thecircular scan of the substrate using a GCIB system.

FIG. 18 illustrates another exemplary method of implementing thecircular scan of the substrate using a GCIB system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, in order to facilitate a thoroughunderstanding of the invention and for purposes of explanation and notlimitation, specific details are set forth, such as particulargeometries of a lithography, coater/developer, and gap-fill treatmentsystem, and descriptions of various components and processes. However,it should be understood that the invention may be practiced in otherembodiments that depart from these specific details.

In the following description, the terms ion beam and gas cluster ionbeam (GCIB) will be used interchangeably, as the workpiece scanningmechanism described herein can be used for processing workpieces usingordinary (i.e. monomer) ion beams and gas cluster ion beams (GCIB).

In the following description, the terms workpiece, substrate, and waferwill be used interchangeably, to denote a workpiece being processed byan ion beam or gas cluster ion beam (GCIB). The workpiece can include aconductive, semiconductive, or dielectric substrate, with or withoutvarious patterned or unpatterned films formed thereupon. Further, theworkpiece can be of any shape, e.g. circular, rectangular, etc., andsize, e.g. a circular wafer of 6 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches, or higherdiameter. Example workpieces include wafers or semiconductor wafers,flat panel displays (FPD), liquid crystal displays (LCD), etc.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a GCIB processing system 100 for modifying,depositing, growing, or doping a layer is depicted according to anembodiment. The GCIB processing system 100 comprises a vacuum vessel102, substrate holder 150, upon which a substrate 152 to be processed isaffixed, and vacuum pumping systems 170A, 170B, and 170C. Substrate 152can be a semiconductor substrate, a wafer, a flat panel display (FPD), aliquid crystal display (LCD), or any other workpiece. GCIB processingsystem 100 is configured to produce a GCIB for treating substrate 152.

Referring still to GCIB processing system 100 in FIG. 1, the vacuumvessel 102 comprises three communicating chambers, namely, a sourcechamber 104, an ionization/acceleration chamber 106, and a processingchamber 108 to provide a reduced-pressure enclosure. The three chambersare evacuated to suitable operating pressures by vacuum pumping systems170A, 170B, and 170C, respectively. In the three communicating chambers104, 106, 108, a gas cluster beam can be formed in the first chamber(source chamber 104), while a GCIB can be formed in the second chamber(ionization/acceleration chamber 106) wherein the gas cluster beam isionized and accelerated. Then, in the third chamber (processing chamber108), the accelerated GCIB may be utilized to treat substrate 152.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, GCIB processing system 100comprises two gas supplies 115, 1015 and two nozzles 116, 1016.Additional embodiments will be discussed later having numbers of nozzlesdifferent than two, and numbers of gas supplies different than two, allof which fall within the scope of the invention. Each of the two gassupplies 115 and 1015 is connected to one of two stagnation chambers 116and 1016, and nozzles 110 and 1010, respectively. The first gas supply115 comprises a first gas source 111, a second gas source 112, a firstgas control valve 113A, a second gas control valve 113B, and a gasmetering valve 113. For example, a first gas composition stored in thefirst gas source 111 is admitted under pressure through a first gascontrol valve 113A to the gas metering valve or valves 113.Additionally, for example, a second gas composition stored in the secondgas source 112 is admitted under pressure through the second gas controlvalve 113B to the gas metering valve or valves 113. Further, forexample, the first gas composition or second gas composition, or both,of first gas supply 115 can include a condensable inert gas, carrier gasor dilution gas. For example, the inert gas, carrier gas or dilution gascan include a noble gas, i.e., He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, or Rn.

Similarly, the second gas supply 1015 comprises a first gas source 1011,a second gas source 1012, a first gas control valve 1013A, a second gascontrol valve 1013B, and a gas metering valve 1013. For example, a firstgas composition stored in the first gas source 1011 is admitted underpressure through the first gas control valve 1013A to the gas meteringvalve or valves 1013. Additionally, for example, a second gascomposition stored in the second gas source 1012 is admitted underpressure through the second gas control valve 1013B to the gas meteringvalve or valves 1013. Further, for example, the first gas composition orsecond gas composition, or both, of second gas supply 1015 can include acondensable inert gas, carrier gas or dilution gas. For example, theinert gas, carrier gas or dilution gas can include a noble gas, i.e.,He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, or Rn.

Furthermore, the first gas sources 111 and 1011, and the second gassources 112 and 1012 are each utilized to produce ionized clusters. Thematerial compositions of the first and second gas sources 111, 1011,112, and 1012 include the principal atomic (or molecular) species, i.e.,the first and second atomic constituents desired to be introduced fordoping, depositing, modifying, or growing a layer.

The high pressure, condensable gas comprising the first gas compositionand/or the second gas composition is introduced from the first gassupply 115 through gas feed tube 114 into stagnation chamber 116 and isejected into the substantially lower pressure vacuum through a properlyshaped nozzle 110. As a result of the expansion of the high pressure,condensable gas from the stagnation chamber 116 to the lower pressureregion of the source chamber 104, the gas velocity accelerates tosupersonic speeds and a gas cluster beam emanates from nozzle 110.

Similarly, the high pressure, condensable gas comprising the first gascomposition and/or the second gas composition is introduced from thesecond gas supply 1015 through gas feed tube 1014 into stagnationchamber 1016 and is ejected into the substantially lower pressure vacuumthrough a properly shaped nozzle 1010. As a result of the expansion ofthe high pressure, condensable gas from the stagnation chamber 1016 tothe lower pressure region of the source chamber 104, the gas velocityaccelerates to supersonic speeds and a gas cluster beam emanates fromnozzle 1010.

Nozzles 110 and 1010 are mounted in such close proximity that theindividual gas cluster beams generated by the nozzles 110, 1010substantially coalesce in the vacuum environment of source chamber 104into a single gas cluster beam 118 before reaching the gas skimmer 120.The chemical composition of the gas cluster beam 118 represents amixture of compositions provided by the first and second gas supplies115 and 1015, injected via nozzles 110 and 1010.

The inherent cooling of the jet as static enthalpy is exchanged forkinetic energy, which results from the expansion in the jets, causes aportion of the gas jets to condense and form a gas cluster beam 118having clusters, each consisting of from several to several thousandweakly bound atoms or molecules. A gas skimmer 120, positioneddownstream from the exit of nozzles 110 and 1010 between the sourcechamber 104 and ionization/acceleration chamber 106, partially separatesthe gas molecules on the peripheral edge of the gas cluster beam 118,that may not have condensed into a cluster, from the gas molecules inthe core of the gas cluster beam 118, that may have formed clusters.Among other reasons, this selection of a portion of gas cluster beam 118can lead to a reduction in the pressure in the downstream regions wherehigher pressures may be detrimental (e.g., ionizer 122, and processingchamber 108). Furthermore, gas skimmer 120 defines an initial dimensionfor the gas cluster beam entering the ionization/acceleration chamber106.

The first and second gas supplies 115 and 1015 can be configured toindependently control stagnation pressures and temperatures of gasmixtures introduced to stagnation chambers 116 and 1016. Temperaturecontrol can be achieved by the use of suitable temperature controlsystems (e.g. heaters and/or coolers) in each gas supply (not shown). Inaddition, a manipulator 117 may be mechanically coupled to nozzle 110,for example via the stagnation chamber 116, the manipulator 117 beingconfigured to position the coupled nozzle 110 with respect to the gasskimmer 120, independent of nozzle 1010. Likewise, a manipulator 1017may be mechanically coupled to nozzle 1010, for example via thestagnation chamber 1016, the manipulator 1017 being configured toposition the coupled nozzle 1010 with respect to the gas skimmer 120,independent of nozzle 110. Thus each nozzle in a multi-nozzle assemblymay be separately manipulated for proper positioning vis-à-vis thesingle gas skimmer 120.

After the gas cluster beam 118 has been formed in the source chamber104, the constituent gas clusters in gas cluster beam 118 are ionized byionizer 122 to form GCIB 128. The ionizer 122 may include an electronimpact ionizer that produces electrons from one or more filaments 124,which are accelerated and directed to collide with the gas clusters inthe gas cluster beam 118 inside the ionization/acceleration chamber 106.Upon collisional impact with the gas cluster, electrons of sufficientenergy eject electrons from molecules in the gas clusters to generateionized molecules. The ionization of gas clusters can lead to apopulation of charged gas cluster ions, generally having a net positivecharge.

As shown in FIG. 1, beam electronics 130 are utilized to ionize,extract, accelerate, and focus the GCIB 128. The beam electronics 130include a filament power supply 136 that provides voltage V_(F) to heatthe ionizer filament 124.

Additionally, the beam electronics 130 include a set of suitably biasedhigh voltage electrodes 126 in the ionization/acceleration chamber 106that extracts the cluster ions from the ionizer 122. The high voltageelectrodes 126 then accelerate the extracted cluster ions to a desiredenergy and focus them to define GCIB 128. The kinetic energy of thecluster ions in GCIB 128 typically ranges from about 1000 electron volts(1 keV) to several tens of keV. For example, GCIB 128 can be acceleratedto 1 to 100 keV.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the beam electronics 130 further include ananode power supply 134 that provides voltage V_(A) to an anode ofionizer 122 for accelerating electrons emitted from ionizer filament 124and causing the electrons to bombard the gas clusters in gas clusterbeam 118, which produces cluster ions.

Additionally, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the beam electronics 130 includean extraction power supply 138 that provides voltage V_(E) to bias atleast one of the high voltage electrodes 126 to extract ions from theionizing region of ionizer 122 and to form the GCIB 128. For example,extraction power supply 138 provides a voltage to a first electrode ofthe high voltage electrodes 126 that is less than or equal to the anodevoltage of ionizer 122.

Furthermore, the beam electronics 130 can include an accelerator powersupply 140 that provides voltage V_(Acc) to bias one of the high voltageelectrodes 126 with respect to the ionizer 122 so as to result in atotal GCIB acceleration energy equal to about V_(Acc) electron volts(eV). For example, accelerator power supply 140 provides a voltage to asecond electrode of the high voltage electrodes 126 that is less than orequal to the anode voltage of ionizer 122 and the extraction voltage ofthe first electrode.

Further yet, the beam electronics 130 can include lens power supplies142, 144 that may be provided to bias some of the high voltageelectrodes 126 with potentials (e.g., V_(L1) and V_(L2)) to focus theGCIB 128. For example, lens power supply 142 can provide a voltage to athird electrode of the high voltage electrodes 126 that is less than orequal to the anode voltage of ionizer 122, the extraction voltage of thefirst electrode, and the accelerator voltage of the second electrode,and lens power supply 144 can provide a voltage to a fourth electrode ofthe high voltage electrodes 126 that is less than or equal to the anodevoltage of ionizer 122, the extraction voltage of the first electrode,the accelerator voltage of the second electrode, and the first lensvoltage of the third electrode.

Note that many variants on both the ionization and extraction schemesmay be used. While the scheme described here is useful for purposes ofinstruction, another extraction scheme involves placing the ionizer andthe first element of the extraction electrode(s) (or extraction optics)at V_(Acc). This typically requires fiber optic programming of controlvoltages for the ionizer power supply, but creates a simpler overalloptics train. The invention described herein is useful regardless of thedetails of the ionizer and extraction lens biasing.

A beam filter 146 in the ionization/acceleration chamber 106 downstreamof the high voltage electrodes 126 can be utilized to eliminatemonomers, or monomers and light cluster ions from the GCIB 128 to definea filtered process GCIB 128A that enters the processing chamber 108. Inone embodiment, the beam filter 146 substantially reduces the number ofclusters having 100 or less atoms or molecules or both. The beam filter146 may comprise a magnet assembly for imposing a magnetic field acrossthe GCIB 128 to aid in the filtering process.

Referring still to FIG. 1, a beam gate 148 is disposed in the path ofGCIB 128 in the ionization/acceleration chamber 106. Beam gate 148 hasan open state in which the GCIB 128 is permitted to pass from theionization/acceleration chamber 106 to the processing chamber 108 todefine process GCIB 128A, and a closed state in which the GCIB 128 isblocked from entering the processing chamber 108. A control cableconducts control signals from control system 190 to beam gate 148. Thecontrol signals controllably switch beam gate 148 between the open orclosed states.

A substrate 152, which may be a wafer or semiconductor wafer, a flatpanel display (FPD), a liquid crystal display (LCD), or other substrateto be processed by GCIB processing, is disposed in the path of theprocess GCIB 128A in the processing chamber 108. Because mostapplications contemplate the processing of large substrates withspatially uniform results, a scanning system may be desirable touniformly scan the process GCIB 128A across large areas to producespatially homogeneous results.

An X-scan actuator 160 provides linear motion of the substrate holder150 in the direction of X-scan motion (into and out of the plane of thepaper). A Y-scan actuator 162 provides linear motion of the substrateholder 150 in the direction of Y-scan motion 164, which is typicallyorthogonal to the X-scan motion. The combination of X-scanning andY-scanning motions translates the substrate 152, held by the substrateholder 150, in a raster-like scanning motion through process GCIB 128Ato cause a uniform (or otherwise programmed) irradiation of a surface ofthe substrate 152 by the process GCIB 128A for processing of thesubstrate 152.

The substrate holder 150 disposes the substrate 152 at an angle withrespect to the axis of the process GCIB 128A so that the process GCIB128A has an angle of beam incidence 166 with respect to a substrate 152surface. The angle of beam incidence 166 may be 90 degrees or some otherangle, but is typically 90 degrees or near 90 degrees. DuringY-scanning, the substrate 152 and the substrate holder 150 move from theshown position to the alternate position “A” indicated by thedesignators 152A and 150A, respectively. Notice that in moving betweenthe two positions, the substrate 152 is scanned through the process GCIB128A, and in both extreme positions, is moved completely out of the pathof the process GCIB 128A (over-scanned). Though not shown explicitly inFIG. 1, similar scanning and over-scan is performed in the (typically)orthogonal X-scan motion direction (in and out of the plane of thepaper).

A beam current sensor 180 may be disposed beyond the substrate holder150 in the path of the process GCIB 128A so as to intercept a sample ofthe process GCIB 128A when the substrate holder 150 is scanned out ofthe path of the process GCIB 128A. The beam current sensor 180 istypically a faraday cup or the like, closed except for a beam-entryopening, and is typically affixed to the wall of the vacuum vessel 102with an electrically insulating mount 182.

As shown in FIG. 1, control system 190 connects to the X-scan actuator160 and the Y-scan actuator 162 through electrical cable and controlsthe X-scan actuator 160 and the Y-scan actuator 162 in order to placethe substrate 152 into or out of the process GCIB 128A and to scan thesubstrate 152 uniformly relative to the process GCIB 128A to achievedesired processing of the substrate 152 by the process GCIB 128A.Control system 190 receives the sampled beam current collected by thebeam current sensor 180 by way of an electrical cable and, thereby,monitors the GCIB and controls the GCIB dose received by the substrate152 by removing the substrate 152 from the process GCIB 128A when apredetermined dose has been delivered.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the GCIB processing system 100′ canbe similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1 and further comprise a X-Ypositioning table 253 operable to hold and move a substrate 252 in twoaxes, effectively scanning the substrate 252 relative to the processGCIB 128A. For example, the X-motion can include motion into and out ofthe plane of the paper, and the Y-motion can include motion alongdirection 264.

The process GCIB 128A impacts the substrate 252 at a projected impactregion 286 on a surface of the substrate 252, and at an angle of beamincidence 266 with respect to the surface of substrate 252. By X-Ymotion, the X-Y positioning table 253 can position each portion of asurface of the substrate 252 in the path of process GCIB 128A so thatevery region of the surface may be made to coincide with the projectedimpact region 286 for processing by the process GCIB 128A. An X-Ycontroller 262 provides electrical signals to the X-Y positioning table253 through an electrical cable for controlling the position andvelocity in each of X-axis and Y-axis directions. The X-Y controller 262receives control signals from, and is operable by, control system 190through an electrical cable. X-Y positioning table 253 moves bycontinuous motion or by stepwise motion according to conventional X-Ytable positioning technology to position different regions of thesubstrate 252 within the projected impact region 286. In one embodiment,X-Y positioning table 253 is programmably operable by the control system190 to scan, with programmable velocity, any portion of the substrate252 through the projected impact region 286 for GCIB processing by theprocess GCIB 128A.

The substrate holding surface 254 of positioning table 253 iselectrically conductive and is connected to a dosimetry processoroperated by control system 190. An electrically insulating layer 255 ofpositioning table 253 isolates the substrate 252 and substrate holdingsurface 254 from the base portion 260 of the positioning table 253.Electrical charge induced in the substrate 252 by the impinging processGCIB 128A is conducted through substrate 252 and substrate holdingsurface 254, and a signal is coupled through the positioning table 253to control system 190 for dosimetry measurement. Dosimetry measurementhas integrating means for integrating the GCIB current to determine aGCIB processing dose. Under certain circumstances, a target-neutralizingsource (not shown) of electrons, sometimes referred to as electronflood, may be used to neutralize the process GCIB 128A. In such case, aFaraday cup (not shown, but which may be similar to beam current sensor180 in FIG. 1) may be used to assure accurate dosimetry despite theadded source of electrical charge, the reason being that typical Faradaycups allow only the high energy positive ions to enter and be measured.

In operation, the control system 190 signals the opening of the beamgate 148 to irradiate the substrate 252 with the process GCIB 128A. Thecontrol system 190 monitors measurements of the GCIB current collectedby the substrate 252 in order to compute the accumulated dose receivedby the substrate 252. When the dose received by the substrate 252reaches a predetermined dose, the control system 190 closes the beamgate 148 and processing of the substrate 252 is complete. Based uponmeasurements of the GCIB dose received for a given area of the substrate252, the control system 190 can adjust the scan velocity in order toachieve an appropriate beam dwell time to treat different regions of thesubstrate 252.

Alternatively, the process GCIB 128A may be scanned at a constantvelocity in a fixed pattern across the surface of the substrate 252;however, the GCIB intensity is modulated (may be referred to as Z-axismodulation) to deliver an intentionally non-uniform dose to the sample.The GCIB intensity may be modulated in the GCIB processing system 100′by any of a variety of methods, including varying the gas flow from aGCIB source supply; modulating the ionizer 122 by either varying afilament voltage V_(F) or varying an anode voltage V_(A); modulating thelens focus by varying lens voltages V_(L1) and/or V_(L2); ormechanically blocking a portion of the GCIB with a variable beam block,adjustable shutter, or variable aperture. The modulating variations maybe continuous analog variations or may be time modulated switching orgating.

The processing chamber 108 may further include an in-situ metrologysystem. For example, the in-situ metrology system may include an opticaldiagnostic system having an optical transmitter 280 and optical receiver282 configured to illuminate substrate 252 with an incident opticalsignal 284 and to receive a scattered optical signal 288 from substrate252, respectively. The optical diagnostic system comprises opticalwindows to permit the passage of the incident optical signal 284 and thescattered optical signal 288 into and out of the processing chamber 108.Furthermore, the optical transmitter 280 and the optical receiver 282may comprise transmitting and receiving optics, respectively. Theoptical transmitter 280 receives, and is responsive to, controllingelectrical signals from the control system 190. The optical receiver 282returns measurement signals to the control system 190.

The in-situ metrology system may comprise any instrument configured tomonitor the progress of the GCIB processing. According to oneembodiment, the in-situ metrology system may constitute an opticalscatterometry system. The scatterometry system may include ascatterometer, incorporating beam profile ellipsometry (ellipsometer)and beam profile reflectometry (reflectometer), commercially availablefrom Therma-Wave, Inc. (1250 Reliance Way, Fremont, Calif. 94539) orNanometrics, Inc. (1550 Buckeye Drive, Milpitas, Calif. 95035).

For instance, the in-situ metrology system may include an integratedOptical Digital Profilometry (iODP) scatterometry module configured tomeasure process performance data resulting from the execution of atreatment process in the GCIB processing system 100′. The metrologysystem may, for example, measure or monitor metrology data resultingfrom the treatment process. The metrology data can, for example, beutilized to determine process performance data that characterizes thetreatment process, such as a process rate, a relative process rate, afeature profile angle, a critical dimension, a feature thickness ordepth, a feature shape, etc. For example, in a process for directionallydepositing material on a substrate, process performance data can includea critical dimension (CD), such as a top, middle or bottom CD in afeature (i.e., via, line, etc.), a feature depth, a material thickness,a sidewall angle, a sidewall shape, a deposition rate, a relativedeposition rate, a spatial distribution of any parameter thereof, aparameter to characterize the uniformity of any spatial distributionthereof, etc. Operating the X-Y positioning table 253 via controlsignals from control system 190, the in-situ metrology system can mapone or more characteristics of the substrate 252.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the GCIB processing system 100″ canbe similar to the embodiment of FIG. 1 and further comprise a pressurecell chamber 350 positioned, for example, at or near an outlet region ofthe ionization/acceleration chamber 106. The pressure cell chamber 350comprises an inert gas source 352 configured to supply a background gasto the pressure cell chamber 350 for elevating the pressure in thepressure cell chamber 350, and a pressure sensor 354 configured tomeasure the elevated pressure in the pressure cell chamber 350.

The pressure cell chamber 350 may be configured to modify the beamenergy distribution of GCIB 128 to produce a modified processing GCIB128A′. This modification of the beam energy distribution is achieved bydirecting GCIB 128 along a GCIB path through an increased pressureregion within the pressure cell chamber 350 such that at least a portionof the GCIB traverses the increased pressure region. The extent ofmodification to the beam energy distribution may be characterized by apressure-distance integral along at least a portion of the GCIB path,where distance (or length of the pressure cell chamber 350) is indicatedby path length (d). When the value of the pressure-distance integral isincreased (either by increasing the pressure and/or the path length(d)), the beam energy distribution is broadened and the peak energy isdecreased. When the value of the pressure-distance integral is decreased(either by decreasing the pressure and/or the path length (d)), the beamenergy distribution is narrowed and the peak energy is increased.Further details for the design of a pressure cell may be determined fromU.S. Pat. No. 7,060,989, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IMPROVEDPROCESSING WITH A GAS-CLUSTER ION BEAM; the content of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Control system 190 comprises a microprocessor, memory, and a digital I/Oport capable of generating control voltages sufficient to communicateand activate inputs to GCIB processing system 100 (or 595, 100″), aswell as monitor outputs from GCIB processing system 100 (or 100′, 100″).Moreover, control system 190 can be coupled to and can exchangeinformation with vacuum pumping systems 170A, 170B, and 170C, first gassources 111 and 1011, second gas sources 112 and 1012, first gas controlvalves 113A and 1013A, second gas control valves 113B and 1013B, beamelectronics 130, beam filter 146, beam gate 148, the X-scan actuator160, the Y-scan actuator 162, and beam current sensor 180. For example,a program stored in the memory can be utilized to activate the inputs tothe aforementioned components of GCIB processing system 100 according toa process recipe in order to perform a GCIB process on substrate 152.

However, the control system 190 may be implemented as a general purposecomputer system that performs a portion or all of the microprocessorbased processing steps of the invention in response to a processorexecuting one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained ina memory. Such instructions may be read into the controller memory fromanother computer readable medium, such as a hard disk or a removablemedia drive. One or more processors in a multi-processing arrangementmay also be employed as the controller microprocessor to execute thesequences of instructions contained in main memory. In alternativeembodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions. Thus, embodiments are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

The control system 190 can be used to configure any number of processingelements, as described above, and the control system 190 can collect,provide, process, store, and display data from processing elements. Thecontrol system 190 can include a number of applications, as well as anumber of controllers, for controlling one or more of the processingelements. For example, control system 190 can include a graphic userinterface (GUI) component (not shown) that can provide interfaces thatenable a user to monitor and/or control one or more processing elements.

Control system 190 can be locally located relative to the GCIBprocessing system 100 (or 100′, 100″), or it can be remotely locatedrelative to the GCIB processing system 100 (or 100′, 100″). For example,control system 190 can exchange data with GCIB processing system 100using a direct connection, an intranet, and/or the internet. Controlsystem 190 can be coupled to an intranet at, for example, a customersite (i.e., a device maker, etc.), or it can be coupled to an intranetat, for example, a vendor site (i.e., an equipment manufacturer).Alternatively or additionally, control system 190 can be coupled to theinternet. Furthermore, another computer (i.e., controller, server, etc.)can access control system 190 to exchange data via a direct connection,an intranet, and/or the internet.

Substrate 152 (or 252) can be affixed to the substrate holder 150 (orsubstrate holder 250) via a clamping system (not shown), such as amechanical clamping system or an electrical clamping system (e.g., anelectrostatic clamping system). Furthermore, substrate holder 150 (or250) can include a heating system (not shown) or a cooling system (notshown) that is configured to adjust and/or control the temperature ofsubstrate holder 150 (or 250) and substrate 152 (or 252).

Vacuum pumping systems 170A, 170B, and 170C can include turbo-molecularvacuum pumps (TMP) capable of pumping speeds up to about 5000 liters persecond (and greater) and a gate valve for throttling the chamberpressure. In conventional vacuum processing devices, a 1000 to 3000liter per second TMP can be employed. TMPs are useful for low pressureprocessing, typically less than about 50 mTorr. Although not shown, itmay be understood that pressure cell chamber 350 may also include avacuum pumping system. Furthermore, a device for monitoring chamberpressure (not shown) can be coupled to the vacuum vessel 102 or any ofthe three vacuum chambers 104, 106, 108. The pressure-measuring devicecan be, for example, a capacitance manometer or ionization gauge.

Also shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is an alternative embodiment for a nozzlemanipulator. Rather than each nozzle 110, 1010 being coupled to aseparately operable manipulator 117, 1017 as in FIG. 1, the nozzles 110,1010 may be coupled to each other, and together coupled to a singlemanipulator 117A. The position of the nozzles 110, 1010 vis-à-vis thegas skimmer 120 can then be manipulated collectively as a set ratherthan individually.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a section 300 of a gas cluster ionizer (122,FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) for ionizing a gas cluster jet (gas cluster beam 118,FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) is shown. The section 300 is normal to the axis ofGCIB 128. For typical gas cluster sizes (2000 to 15000 atoms), clustersleaving the gas skimmer aperture (120, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) and entering anionizer (122, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) will travel with a kinetic energy ofabout 130 to 1000 electron volts (eV). At these low energies, anydeparture from space charge neutrality within the ionizer 122 willresult in a rapid dispersion of the jet with a significant loss of beamcurrent. FIG. 4 illustrates a self-neutralizing ionizer. As with otherionizers, gas clusters are ionized by electron impact. In this design,thermo-electrons (seven examples indicated by 310) are emitted frommultiple linear thermionic filaments 302 a, 302 b, and 302 c (typicallytungsten) and are extracted and focused by the action of suitableelectric fields provided by electron-repeller electrodes 306 a, 306 b,and 306 c and beam-forming electrodes 304 a, 304 b, and 304 c.Thermo-electrons 310 pass through the gas cluster jet and the jet axisand then strike the opposite beam-forming electrode 304 b to produce lowenergy secondary electrons (312, 314, and 316 indicated for examples).

Though (for simplicity) not shown, linear thermionic filaments 302 b and302 c also produce thermo-electrons that subsequently produce low energysecondary electrons. All the secondary electrons help ensure that theionized cluster jet remains space charge neutral by providing low energyelectrons that can be attracted into the positively ionized gas clusterjet as required to maintain space charge neutrality. Beam-formingelectrodes 304 a, 304 b, and 304 c are biased positively with respect tolinear thermionic filaments 302 a, 302 b, and 302 c andelectron-repeller electrodes 306 a, 306 b, and 306 c are negativelybiased with respect to linear thermionic filaments 302 a, 302 b, and 302c. Insulators 308 a, 308 b, 308 c, 308 d, 308 e, and 308 f electricallyinsulate and support electrodes 304 a, 304 b, 304 c, 306 a, 306 b, and306 c. For example, this self-neutralizing ionizer is effective andachieves over 1000 micro Amps argon GCIBs.

Alternatively, ionizers may use electron extraction from plasma toionize clusters. The geometry of these ionizers is quite different fromthe three filament ionizer described here but the principles ofoperation and the ionizer control are very similar. For example, theionizer design may be similar to the ionizer described in U.S. Pat. No.7,173,252, entitled IONIZER AND METHOD FOR GAS-CLUSTER ION-BEAMFORMATION; the content of which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

The gas cluster ionizer (122, FIGS. 1, 2 and 3) may be configured tomodify the beam energy distribution of GCIB 128 by altering the chargestate of the GCIB 128. For example, the charge state may be modified byadjusting an electron flux, an electron energy, or an electron energydistribution for electrons utilized in electron collision-inducedionization of gas clusters.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, an embodiment of the workpiecescanning mechanism 500, is shown. The workpiece scanning mechanism 500is enclosed in a processing chamber 510, which can be, for example, oneof processing chambers 108, of processing systems 100, 100′, or 100″ ofFIGS. 1, 2, and 3. The purpose of processing chamber 510 is to enclosethe workpiece 520 in a low pressure environment, free of contamination,during irradiation thereof using the GCIB. The workpiece 520 is attachedusing a chuck 530 to a first end of scanning arm 540, which comprises anelongated member acting to scan the workpiece 520 in a arcuate path 580across GCIB 505, which enters the processing chamber 510 from, forexample, one of ionization/acceleration chambers 106, of processingsystems 100, 100′, or 100″ of FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Depending on theconfiguration, the chuck 530 can secure the workpiece 520 to thescanning arm 540 using mechanical clamping, vacuum suction, or usingelectrostatic clamping. An exemplary embodiment of anelectrostatically-clamping chuck 530 is described in U.S. Pat. No.7,948,734 entitled ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK POWER SUPPLY, and in U.S. Pat.No. 8,169,769 entitled ELECTROSTATIC CHUCK POWER SUPPLY, bothincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

The second end (i.e. point of rotation) of the scanning arm 540, awayfrom workpiece 520 and chuck 530, is attached to the rotary output shaftof the fast-scan motor 550, which acts as a rotational mechanism toactuate the workpiece 520 in the fast-scan movement direction, alongarcuate path 580. An exemplary embodiment of a fast-scan motor 550 isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,843 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FORSCANNING A WORKPIECE THROUGH AN ION BEAM, also herein incorporated byreference in its entirety. The fast-scan motor 550 is itself supportedby the slow-scan mechanism 560, to be described in greater detail later.The slow-scan mechanism 560 is configured to move the fast-scan motor550, scanning arm 540, chuck 530, and workpiece 520 in the slow-scanmovement direction 570, along a linear path.

While the embodiment of FIGS. 5A and 5B shows the slow-scan mechanism560 aligned in the vertical direction, and thus the scanning arm 540acts as an inverted pendulum, the slow-scan mechanism 560 can also beinstalled in a horizontal direction, or at some angle between horizontaland vertical, while still allowing the GCIB 505 to reach all points ofworkpiece 520. For example, in one embodiment, the slow-scan mechanism560 may be mounted horizontally along the bottom wall of processingchamber 510. In another exemplary embodiment, the slow-scan mechanism560 may be mounted horizontally along the upper wall of processingchamber 510.

To facilitate loading and unloading of workpieces, in one embodiment,the scanning arm 540 may include an optional joint 545, to allow thescanning arm 540 to bend sufficiently backwards, in a bending movement590, such that the workpiece 520 can be loaded and unloaded from chuck530 in a horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 5B. Joint 545 can beactuated using a motor (not shown), and an embodiment of a jointactuation system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,843 entitled METHODAND APPARATUS FOR SCANNING A WORKPIECE THROUGH AN ION BEAM, hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

A controller 595, communicating via communication lines 598, is used tocontrol the workpiece scanning mechanism 500. Controller 595 may beimplemented as a separate controller, or it can be implemented as a partof control system 190, of processing systems 100, 100′, or 100″, ofFIGS. 1, 2, and 3. Controller 595 comprises a microprocessor, memory,and a digital I/O port capable of generating control voltages sufficientto communicate and activate inputs to workpiece scanning mechanism 500.Moreover, controller 595 can be coupled to and can exchange informationwith fast-scan motor 550, slow-scan mechanism 560, chuck 530, joint 545,etc. For example, a program stored in the memory can be utilized toactivate the inputs to the aforementioned components of the workpiecescanning mechanism 500 according to a process recipe in order to performa GCIB process on workpiece 520. Controller 595 may be implemented as ageneral purpose computer system that performs a portion or all of themicroprocessor based processing steps of the invention in response to aprocessor executing one or more sequences of one or more instructionscontained in a memory. Such instructions may be read into the controllermemory from another computer readable medium, such as a hard disk or aremovable media drive. One or more processors in a multi-processingarrangement may also be employed as the controller microprocessor toexecute the sequences of instructions contained in main memory. Inalternative embodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of orin combination with software instructions. Thus, embodiments are notlimited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an exemplary embodiment of slow-scan mechanism 560 ofworkpiece scanning mechanism 500. The exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 6and 7 is shown installed such that the slow-scan movement is in thevertical direction, but as was mentioned earlier, other installationangles may be used. FIG. 6 shows partial cutaway views of the assembly,but with the surrounding structure, such as processing chamber 510. FIG.7 shows a view without the surrounding structures.

At the core of slow-scan mechanism 560 is a shuttle drive assembly 605,comprising a rail 610 and shuttle 620. The shuttle 620 has an attachmentpoint 660, to which the fast-scan motor 550 can be attached, the rail610 allowing the shuttle 620 (and all structures attached thereto, i.e.fast-scan motor 550, scanning arm 540, chuck 530, and workpiece 520) tofreely move along a linear path defining the slow-scan movementdirection 570. At the ends of rail 610, stops 612A and 612B are attachedto prevent the shuttle 620 from slipping off the rail 610.

Generally parallel to the shuttle drive assembly are installed pulleys630 and 640, over which belt 650A,B is mounted. The belt 650A,Bcomprises a full loop, and can be a flat belt or a geared belt. The belt650A,B is made of a material compatible with the GCIB process, so as toreduce outgassing and contamination, and can be made of a metal orpolymeric material. In one embodiment, the belt 650A,B can be made of asingle strand or loop of material (not shown). In another embodiment,the belt 650A,B can be made of two portions 650A and 650B, eachindependently attached to pulleys 630 and 640 respectively, atattachment points 652A, 652B, 653B, etc. In this latter embodiment, eachpulley 630 and 640 comprises two side-by-side pulleys, attached togetheror integrally-machined. Also, in this latter embodiment, the diametersof the pulleys 630 and 640 are chosen large such that the angular travelof pulleys 630 and 640 allows the full range of slow-scan motion ofshuttle 620, without the belt portions 650A and 650B separating fromtheir respective attachment points 652A, 652B, 653B, etc.

One portion of belt 650A,B, 650B, is attached to the shuttle 620,proximate the attachment point 660, to facilitate actuation of theshuttle 620 in the slow-scan movement direction 570. In an embodiment,belt 650A,B can be a geared belt, in which case sprockets 630 and 640are used in lieu of pulleys 630 and 640.

Still with reference to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6, and 7, to actuate the belt650A,B and thus effect a slow-scan movement of fast-scan motor 550,scanning arm 540, chuck 530, and workpiece 520, a drive mechanism 670 isprovided. Drive mechanism 670 can be attached to any of pulleys 630,640; and FIGS. 7 and 8 depict it attached to pulley 630 mounted in theupper position along shuttle drive assembly 605. The drive mechanism 670comprises a vacuum rotary feedthrough 680, mounted on the wall ofprocessing chamber 510, to which vacuum rotary feedthrough the pulley630 is attached. The vacuum rotary feedthrough 680 allows rotatingmotion to be imparted on pulley 630, from a servo motor 690 external tothe processing chamber 510, without breaching the vacuum maintainedwithin processing chamber 510. Between the vacuum rotary feedthrough 680and servo motor 690, an optional reducing transmission 685 may beinstalled. In one embodiment, reducing transmission 685 may comprise apair of sprockets 700 and 710, over which a geared belt 720 is mounted.Alternatively, the reducing transmission 685 may comprise a pair ofpulleys 700 and 710 over which a flat belt 720 is mounted. In yetanother alternative embodiment, the reducing transmission 685 maycomprise a reduction gear set, for example, instead of a belt drive. Thepurpose of the reducing transmission 685 is to at least in part reducethe rpms of the servo motor 690 to a level required for safe operationof slow-scan mechanism 560. Additional reduction of rpms of servo motor690 can be achieved using an optional reduction gear set 692, which mayor may not be a part of servo motor 690 itself.

To operate the slow-scan mechanism 560 of the workpiece scanningmechanism 500, servo motor 690 is actuated based on control signals fromcontroller 595. In an embodiment, rotary motion from the servo motor 690is transmitted via sprockets 700 and 710, and geared belt 720, to thevacuum rotary feedthrough 680. The vacuum rotary feedthrough providesthe rotary motion to pulley 630, which actuates the belt 650A,B toinitiate movement of shuttle 620, attached thereto. Lastly, pulled bybelt 650A,B, the shuttle 620 slides along the linear path defined byrail 610 of shuttle drive assembly 605, guiding the fast-scan motor 550,scanning arm 540, chuck 530, and workpiece 520, attached thereto.

FIG. 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of reducing transmission 685,utilizing a pair of sprockets 700 and 710, and a geared belt 720. Thelarger sprocket 700 is attached to one end of vacuum rotary feedthrough680. The smaller sprocket 710 is attached to the drive shaft of servomotor 695. It has been mentioned before that the rotary range of motionof sprocket 700, vacuum rotary feedthrough 680, and pulley 630, needs tobe limited to prevent overtravel of belt 650A,B, which may causeseparation of portions 650A and 650B of belt 650A,B, from pulleys 630and 640. To prevent this, a set of limit switches 760A and 760B isinstalled in the reducing transmission 685, which feed signals tocontroller 595, to cut out power to servo motor 690 when at the extremeends of the allowed rotary range of travel of sprocket 700, vacuumrotary feedthrough 680, and pulley 630. A suitably-sized limit switchstrike 750 is used to trigger the state of limit switches 760A and 760Bat the extreme ends of the allowed rotary range of travel of sprocket700, vacuum rotary feedthrough 680, and pulley 630.

Advantages of the design of reducing transmission 685, over, forexample, a worm gear set described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,843 entitledMETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SCANNING A WORKPIECE THROUGH AN ION BEAM(herein incorporated by reference in its entirety), include simplicity,lower cost, and higher resilience to shock arising from varying frictionof the shuttle 620 along rail 610, of shuttle drive assembly 605. Alongwith the use of two pulleys 630 and 640, and a belt 650A,B mountedthereon, the present invention mitigates many of the failure modes ofthe workpiece scanning mechanism described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,608,843,and discussed before. To replace the natural action of a worm gear pairas a “brake”, i.e. in which a sudden increase in the torque load isprevented from being transmitted to a servo motor driving the worm gear,in an embodiment, the servo motor 690 of the present invention can beequipped with a brake.

FIGS. 9A and 9B show an embodiment of a shuttle drive assembly 605.Referring to FIG. 9B, the shuttle drive assembly 605 comprises a rail610, the rail 610 including a guide 770 installed thereupon. A slider780 is allowed to slide along guide 770, to which are attached theshuttle 620 and attachment point 660 for attachment of fast-scan motor550. The guide 770 and slider 780 define a longitudinal plane ofsymmetry 790 of the shuttle drive assembly 605, and in the presentembodiment the shuttle 620 and attachment point 660 are all locatedoutside of the longitudinal plane of symmetry 790. This asymmetricconfiguration has a number of advantages over prior art symmetricalshuttle drive assemblies, including being less prone to failure due tocontamination from a GCIB, because as can be seen in FIGS. 5A, 5B, and6, for example, the shuttle drive assembly 605 of FIGS. 9A and 9B can beinstalled such that the opening exposing the guide 770 and slider 780 isoriented away from the direction in which the GCIB 505 enters processingchamber 510, thereby reducing failure rate due to contamination andjamming.

In one embodiment, any one or combination of these parameters areutilized to form a GCIB in a GCIB processing system having a beamprofile that substantially approximates a Gaussian profile asillustrated in FIG. 7. In other embodiments, other beam profiles arepossible.

As shown in FIG. 10, a beam profile 450 having a substantially Gaussianprofile is formed. At an axial location along the length of the GCIB(e.g., the substrate surface), the beam profile is characterized by afull width at half maximum (FWHM) 452 and a maximum width 454 (e.g.,full width at 5% the peak intensity).

After establishing the GCIB, flow proceeds to 520, where metrology datais acquired for a substrate. The metrology data can include parametricdata, such as geometrical, mechanical, electrical and/or opticalparameters associated with the upper layer or one or more devices formedin or on the upper layer of the substrate. For example, metrology dataincludes, but is not limited to, any parameter measurable by themetrology systems described above. Additionally, for example, metrologydata includes measurements for a film thickness, a film height, asurface roughness, a surface contamination, a feature depth, a trenchdepth, a via depth, a feature width, a trench width, a via width, acritical dimension (CD), an electrical resistance, or any combination oftwo or more thereof. Furthermore, for example, metrology data caninclude one or more measurable parameters for one or more surfaceacoustic wave (SAW) devices, such as a SAW frequency.

The shaping aperture can be characterized by a cross-sectionaldimension. The cross-sectional dimension may include a diameter or awidth. Additionally, the shape of the one or more shaping apertures caninclude a circle, an ellipse, a square, a rectangle, a triangle, or across-section having any arbitrary shape. Referring again to FIG. 10, aGCIB can be formed having the beam profile 450, which substantiallyapproximates a Gaussian profile. As an example, the cross-sectionaldimension 456 of the aperture is selected to comprise a diameter lessthan or equal to the FWHM of the GCIB.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary circular scan of a substrate 152 arounda GCIB 128A′ that at least partially makes contact with the substratealong a circular path. Hence, the GCIB 128A′ may etch or deposit a filmaround the periphery of the substrate 152. This may be done tocompensate for substrate 152 edge profiles that have a higher or lowerthickness than the interior area of the substrate 152. For example, ifthe substrate's 152 edge thickness deviates from the rest of thesubstrate, the circular scan of the substrate 152 by the GCIB 128A′ mayetch a film to minimize the thickness deviation. Accordingly, theworkpiece scanning mechanism 500, as shown in FIG. 5A-5B, may beprogrammed or configured to enable the etching or deposition around theperiphery of the substrate 152.

In FIG. 11, the substrate 152 may be enabled to move in the rotationalmotion by using the workpiece scanning mechanism 500, as shown in FIGS.5A and 5B. Only the scanning arm 540 of workpiece scanning mechanism 500is shown in FIG. 11 for the purposes of ease of illustration andexplanation. In one embodiment, the circular scanning may enable theGCIB 128A′ to make contact along the periphery of the substrate to etchthe substrate or an overlying film as the substrate 152 makes rotationalmotions around the GCIB 128A′. For example, the substrate 152 may becoupled to the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 via the scanning arm 540as described above in the description of FIGS. 5A-5B. The workpiecescanning mechanism 500 can move in rotational direction 580 between twopoints while also moving in a linear motion 570. The combination of therotational 580 or radial motion and the linear motion 570 enables acircular motion 575 that allows the GCIB 128A′ to scan across the edgeof the substrate 152 in a rotational scan. As shown in FIG. 11, thescanning of the substrate 152 may start at one point near or at the edgeof the substrate 152. The workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may move thesubstrate in a rotational motion 575 so that the GCIB 128A′ traces acircular path around the substrate 152. For example, the movement of thesubstrate 152 around the GICIB 128A′ is illustrated by the positions ofthe rotated substrates 1521, 1522, 1523 that show how the circular scanmay be completed. Only four rotated substrates 1521, 1522, 1523 as shownin FIG. 11 for the purposes of ease of illustration and explanation. Inpractice, the GCIB 128A′ makes more contact with the substrate 152 atmore than the four points illustrated by the substrate 152 and therotated substrates 1521, 1522, 1523. For example, the GCIB 128A′ maymake contact with the substrate 152 along circular path that may startand end at the same point on the substrate 152. After completing thefirst circular scan the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may index thesubstrate to increase or decrease the circular scan radius (not shown)and begin another circular scan to etch or deposit along anothercircular path around the substrate 152. The scanning radius indexing maycontinue as desired to etch or deposit on the substrate where the GCIB128A′ intercepts the substrate 152. In this way, the edge thicknessprofile of the substrate 152 may be optimized without changing orsubstantially altering the thickness profile of the remainder of thesubstrate 152. FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of the angular, distance,and velocity relationships between the substrate 152 and the GCIB 128A′during the circular scan. The velocity and direction of the circularscan may be controlled a first scanning motion 580 (radial) thatoscillates between two points in a rotational motion and a secondscanning motion 570 (linear) that when combined form a circular path 575around the substrate 152.

FIG. 12 illustrates a diagram of the angular, distance, and velocityrelationships between the substrate 152 and the GCIB 128A′ during thecircular scan. The velocity and direction of the circular scan may becontrolled a first scanning motion 580 (radial) that oscillates betweentwo points in a rotational motion and a second scanning motion 570(linear) that when combined form a circular path 575 around thesubstrate 152.

In one embodiment, the circular scan 1100 may be implemented by knowingthe scan radius 1102 from the center of the substrate 152, angle θ 1110,and the relative position of the GCIB 128A′ via the angle delta δ 1112which may represent the angle between the GCIB 128A′ and the center ofthe substrate 152. In one embodiment, the substrate radius may be atleast 150 mm. The velocity 1104 or dwell time of the circular scan maybe optimized by controlling a velocity of the first scanning motion 1106and a velocity of the second scanning motion 1108. The velocity 1104 maybe constant and may be used to derive the velocity of the first scanningmotion 1106 and a velocity of the second scanning motion 1108, as shownin FIG. 12. For example, the first scanning motion velocity 1106 may bederived from the following equation:

${Vs} = {v\frac{\cos \; \theta}{\cos \; \delta}}$

The second scanning motion velocity 1108 may be derived from thefollowing equation:

Vf=v cos θ−vs cos δ

In one embodiment, the velocity 1104 may be constant during the scanprocess to maintain a similar dwell time around the substrate. However,to account for variations in the thickness profile (not shown) thecharacteristics of the GCIB 128A′ may be varied to increase or decreasethe localized etch or deposition rate within the same circular scan.Likewise, the etch or deposition rate may be varied by changing thevelocity 1104 during a circular scan. In this way, the dwell time of theGCIB 128A′ may be optimized to account for thickness variations that mayexist along the circular scan pattern implemented by the workpiecescanning mechanism 500.

FIG. 13 illustrates a substrate 152 that shows the paths of circularscans that may be made during etch or deposition processes in the GCIBprocessing system 100. For ease of illustration and explanation, onlythree circular scan paths are shown in FIG. 13. The first radius 1302may be a starting or ending radius located at or near the edge of thesubstrate 152. In some embodiments, the first radius 1302 may beslightly larger than the substrate's 152 radius to account for theprofile and/or intensity of the GCIB 128A′. In some instances, the beamprofile may be relatively large and may impact a larger area than otherprofiles. Hence, the entire GCIB 128A′ beam profile may not have to bein complete contact with the substrate during the first radius 1302scan. In some embodiments, the entire GCIB 128A′ beam profile may notcontact the substrate in its entirety for more than one circular scan1100. However, in other embodiments, the first radius 1302 may be lessthe substrate's 152 radius.

The second radius 1304 scan may be performed after the first radius 1302scan. The second radius 1304 may be smaller than the first radius 1302,as shown in FIG. 13. However, this is not necessarily required in otherembodiments. Generally, the second radius scan 1304 is representative ofmany other circular scans that may be made during etch or depositionprocesses. For example, one process may include two or more circularscans that vary in radius between the first radius 1302 and the thirdradius 1306. The third radius 1306 may be a starting radius or an endingradius. The third radius 1306 may be a shorter distance, as measuredfrom the center of the substrate 152, than the first radius 1302 and thesecond radius 1304. The number and radius of scans may be based, atleast in part, on the thickness profile of the substrate 152 and/or thecharacteristics of the GCIB 128′. In some embodiments, the circularscans may oscillate between the first radius 1302 and the third radius1306 or second radius 1304. For example, the first radius 1302 may bethe starting radius and the ending radius for the GCIB scanning that maymove between the first radius 1302 and the third radius 1306. Thestarting and ending radius may vary accordingly to the thickness profileat the edge of the substrate 152.

FIG. 14A illustrates a simplified exemplary embodiment of implementingthe circular scan (e.g., first radius scan 1302) on the substrate 152 byGCIB processing system 100. FIG. 14A shows a cross section of thesubstrate 152 and the thickness profile 1400 of any overlying film. Inthis embodiment, the GCIB 128A′ shown at a starting radius that islarger than the substrate's 152 radius. However, the beam profile of theGCIB 128A's may still impact the thickness profile even when thestarting radius may be larger than the substrate's radius 152. Thestarting radius and the substrate's 152 radius may be measured from thecenterline 1402 of the substrate 152.

The circular scan 1100 may be completed by rotating 1404 the substrate152 in a rotational movement between a starting point (not shown) and anending point (not shown) that may be the same location. As shown in FIG.14A, the substrate 152 may be indexed towards the GCIB 128A′ for anothercircular scan that covers another portion of the substrate 152. Based onthe beam profile of the GCIB 128′, the impact of two or more scans mayoverlap the same or similar portions of the substrate 152 or theoverlying film.

FIG. 14B illustrates an exemplary result of using the circular scan onthe thickness profile 1400 of the substrate 152. In this embodiment,portions 1406 of the underlying film may be etched away to minimizevariation of the thickness profile 1400. Accordingly, the previousnon-uniformity (e.g., thickness profile 1400) of the substrate 152 maynot impact or have lower impact on additional processing (e.g., etch,pattern, deposition . . . etc.) of the substrate 152. For example,additional processing may include, but is not limited to, etching theoverlying film across the entire substrate 152.

FIG. 15 illustrates a GCIB energy distribution 1500 over the substrate152 region between the starting radius 1302 and the ending radius 1306.In this embodiment, the scan density 1504 near the edge of the substrate152 is higher than the scan density 1502 that is closer to the center ofthe substrate 152. The scan density is made up of beam profiles for theGCIB 128A′ and their relative location to each other and the substrate152 during the circular scans. For example, each circular scan may berepresented by at least one of the beam profile curves. The scan densityplot shows that the highest scan density occurred around 1 mm from theedge (e.g., zero on the x-axis) of the substrate 152. The integration ofall the beam profiles may be used to generate the GCIB energydistribution 1500 across the substrate. In this embodiment, the etchprocess was limited to circular region that extended from the edge ofthe substrate to 4 mm from the edge. However, in other embodiments, theprocess region may reach up to 10 mm or more from the edge of thesubstrate 152.

In one embodiment, the GCIB energy distribution 1500 may correspond tothe thickness profile of the substrate 152, in that high density areas1504 may correspond to higher thicknesses of the substrate 152 or theoverlying film. In this embodiment, the higher density area 1504 may beformed by decreasing the distance between circular scans. In anotherembodiment (not shown), the high energy area 1500 may be formed bydecreasing the velocity of the substrate to increase the dwell time ofthe GCIB 128A′ over particular portions of the substrate 152. In anotherembodiment, the high energy area 1500 may also be formed by increasingthe energy or other characteristics of the GCIB 128A′.

FIG. 16 illustrates one exemplary method of implementing the circularscan of the substrate 152 using a GCIB processing system 100. Substrates152 may have a non-uniform thickness profile that may impact subsequentprocesses in a manner that may impact device yield and/or performance.In one embodiment, the thickness profile may have higher thickness nearthe edge of the substrate than at the interior portions of the substrate152. One approach may be to develop an etch process that has a higheretch rate at the edge than at the center of the substrate 152. Anotherapproach may be to selectively etch the thicker regions to decreasethickness non-uniformity across the substrate 152 and then uniformlyetch the entire substrate 152. The GCIB processing system 100 may beused to implement the selective etch process and the subsequent uniformetch process.

At block 1602, the GCIB processing system 100 may be configured toposition and secure a workpiece (e.g., substrate 152) to a workpiecescanning mechanism 500. The workpiece may be composed of silicon,silicon-germanium, or any other semiconductor material. In oneembodiment, the workpiece may be circular and have a radius of at least100 mm. In one embodiment, the workpiece may include a surface attributethat exhibits a spatial variation between a peripheral edge region andan interior region of the substrate. In one specific embodiment, thesurface attribute may be the thickness of the workpiece or a film on asurface of the workpiece. For example, the spatial variation may berepresented by a change in thickness across workpiece or a filmoverlying the workpiece. The thickness profile 1400 would be onerepresentation of that spatial variation. However, in other embodiments,the surface attribute may include, but is not limited to, a surfaceprofile, a surface roughness, a surface composition, a surface layercomposition, a mechanical property of the workpiece and/or the film, anelectrical property of the workpiece and/or the film, or an opticalproperty of the workpiece and/or the film, or any combination of two ormore thereof.

As noted above, the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may be configuredto place specific portions of the workpiece in the trajectory of theGCIB 128A′.

At block 1604, the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may perform a firstscanning motion (e.g., circular motion 575) of the workpiece through afirst GCIB (e.g., GCIB 128A′) along a substantially circular path thatexposes the peripheral edge region of the workpiece to the first GCIB.The GCIB exposure reduces the spatial variation, or othercharacteristic, of the surface attribute between the peripheral edgeregion and the interior region. An example of this reduction would bethe change in thickness profile 1400. FIG. 14A may illustrate theincoming condition of the workpiece and FIG. 14B may illustrate the postfirst scanning condition of the workpiece.

In one embodiment, the first scanning motion may include the workpiecescanning mechanism 500 moving the workpiece along a substantiallycircular path that begins and ends at substantially the same location.In other embodiments, the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may move theworkpiece in series of circular motions with one or more of the circularmotions having a different radius. For example, in FIG. 13, a startingradius (e.g., first radius 1302) may be the first circular motion of thefirst scanning motion and the ending radius (e.g., third radius 1306)may be the last circular motion of the first scanning motion. In short,the first scanning motion may include scanning the workpiece along twoor more concentric circular paths. The concentric circular paths mayinclude circles with different radii.

In another embodiment, the first scanning motion of workpiece scanningmechanism 500 may include mounting the workpiece at a first end of anelongated member (e.g., scanning arm 540). The elongated member may berotated using a rotational mechanism (e.g., fast-scan motor 550)attached to a point of rotation. In one specific embodiment, the pointof rotation may be away from the end of the elongated member.

The workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may move the elongated member androtational mechanism along with a slow-scan mechanism 560 concurrentlywith the rotating. This movement may cause different portions of theperipheral edge region of the workpiece to pass through the first GCIB,tracing a substantially circular path. In addition to the circularmovement, the characteristics of the first GCIB 128A′ may also bevaried. The characteristics may include, but are not limited to, doseand/or energy.

The completed first scanning should change the surface attribute alongthe peripheral region of the workpiece. In one instance, the surfaceattribute along the peripheral region may be more similar to theinterior workpiece surface attributes. Accordingly, subsequentprocessing may be applied to the entire workpiece and not just theperipheral region.

At block 1608, the workpiece scanning mechanism 500 may perform a secondscanning motion of the workpiece through a second GCIB along anon-circular path that exposes the peripheral edge region and theinterior region of the workpiece to the second GCIB. The second scanningmotion may include repetitively scanning the workpiece along a linear orarcuate path across the workpiece.

The second scanning motion may include mounting the workpiece at a firstend of an elongated member of the workpiece scanning mechanism 500. Thenpartially, repetitively rotating the elongated member using a rotationalmechanism attached to a point of rotation on the elongated member. Thepoint of rotation may be away from the first end that makes one or morescans of the workpiece follow an arcuate path (e.g., an arc that doesn'tcompletely form a circle). The second scanning motion may also includemoving the elongated member and rotational mechanism along with aslow-scan mechanism, to which the rotational mechanism is attached andsuspended from. As a result, the second scanning motion causes differentportions of the workpiece to pass through the second GCIB path duringthe repetitive scans. In one specific embodiment, the characteristics ofthe second GCIB may also be varied. The characteristics may include, butare not limited to, dose and/or energy and the first GCIB differs fromthe second GCIB in at least one GCIB parameter.

FIG. 17 illustrates another exemplary method of implementing thecircular scan 1100 of the substrate 152 using a GCIB processing system100.

At block 1702, mounting a workpiece on a scanning system (e.g.,workpiece scanning mechanism 500) that may be arranged to scan theworkpiece through a charged particle beam. In one embodiment, thecharged particle beam may include, but is not limited to, a gas clusterion beam (GCIB).

At block 1704, the scanning system may perform a first scanning motionof the workpiece through the charged particle beam along at least onecircular path. The circular paths may begin and end in substantially thesame location on the workpiece. However, the circular paths may havedifferent radii of curvature. As noted above in the description of FIG.13, the circular path may extend along a peripheral edge region of theworkpiece. In one specific embodiment, the peripheral region may includethe region up to 10 mm from the edge of the workpiece. As noted above inthe description of FIG. 11, the charge particle beam may change thesurface attributes of the workpiece in the peripheral region withoutsubstantially altering the surface attributes of an interior region ofthe workpiece. Accordingly, the surface attributes of the peripheralregion and the interior region may be more similar to each other whenthe first scanning is completed.

At block 1706, the scanning system may perform a second scanning of theworkpiece through the charged particle beam along a non-circular paththat begins and ends in substantially different locations on theworkpiece. The non-circular path may extend along a linear or arcuatepath across the workpiece.

FIG. 18 illustrates another exemplary method of implementing thecircular scan 1100 of the substrate 152 using a GCIB processing system100. In one embodiment, the selective etching may be performed by theGCIB processing system 100. However, subsequent processing may beperformed on other equipment that may not be able to implement a GCIBprocess. In this instance, the GCIB processing system 100 may preparethe substrate 152 for additional processing that may not require asecond scan as described above in the descriptions of FIGS. 16 and 17.Further, the parameters related to determining to process the circularscan may also be performed on the GCIB processing system 100. Oneimplementation of that embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 18.

At block 1802, the GCIB processing system 100 may mount the substrate152 on a transfer system (e.g., workpiece scanning mechanism 500) thatcan place the substrate in a position that intersects the GCIB 128A′ oris proximate to the GCIB 128A′.

At block 1804, the GCIB processing system 100 may determine or receiveprocess parameters that may be used to remove a portion of the substrateproximate to an edge of the substrate by using a rotational motion ofthe substrate 152. The process parameters may include, but are notlimited to, the number scans made by the GCIB processing system 100, thescan intervals, the scan speed, the starting radius of the scans, andthe ending radius of the scans. In one embodiment, the starting radiusand the ending radius are based, at least in part, on a radius of thesubstrate that is measured from a location on the substrate. Thelocation may be the center of the substrate 152 when the substrate iscircular. For example, the starting radius (e.g., first radius 1302) maycomprise a distance from the center of the substrate 152 to the GCIB128A′ when the moving of the substrate around the GCIB 128A′ begins. Theending radius (e.g., third radius 1306) may be the distance between thecenter of the substrate 152 and where the GCIB 128A′ is located when themoving of the substrate 152 ends.

In one embodiment, the process parameters may be based, at least inpart, on a thickness profile of the substrate 152 and characteristics ofthe GCIB. The process parameters may be determined to etch or deposit afilm to minimize the differences of the surface attributes of thesubstrate 152 from the interior to the periphery. As noted above in thedescription of FIG. 15, the process parameters may be optimized togenerate the GCIB energy profile 1500 that is likely to removeperipheral portions of the substrate 152. In addition to theaforementioned process parameters, the characteristics of the GCIB 128A′may also be varied to implement the GCIB energy profile 1500. In oneembodiment, the characteristics may include, but are not limited to,beam profile, dose, energy, chemistry, or any combination thereof. Inone specific embodiment, the beam profile may comprise a substantiallyconstant or flat portion in the center of the beam and sloped portionsaround the GCIB 128A′ periphery. In this way, the beam profile maycomprises a first portion that includes substantially constant GCIBconditions and a second portion that includes GCIB conditions thatchange a higher rate, as a function of distance, than the first portion.This effect may be illustrated by the Gaussian curve shown in FIG. 11.

At block 1806, the GCIB processing system 100 may move the substratearound the GCIB 128A′ in the rotational motion by using the transfersystem and the process parameters. The circular motion coupled with theGCIB 128A′ may remove the portion of the substrate 152 that intersectsthe GCIB 128A′.

In one embodiment, the moving of the substrate may include placing thesubstrate proximate to GCIB 128A′ such that the GCIB 128A′ is located ator within the starting radius from the center of the substrate 152. TheGCIB processing system 100 may vary the radius of the circular motionsbeing made by the substrate 152, such that the GCIB 128A′ may treat theperipheral region of the substrate 152. When the peripheral region hascompleted treatment, the GCIB processing system disengages the GCIB128A′ from the substrate 152. The treatment may be completed when thecircular scan radius is the same or similar to the ending radius.

In another embodiment, the GCIB processing system 100 may includecomputer-executable instructions that may be executed by a computerprocessor. For example, the computer-executable instructions may be usedto implement any portion or all of the methods described above.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, material, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the invention, but do not denote that theyare present in every embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughoutthis specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodimentof the invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures,materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments.

Various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations inturn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the invention.However, the order of description should not be construed as to implythat these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular,these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.Operations described may be performed in a different order than thedescribed embodiment. Various additional operations may be performedand/or described operations may be omitted in additional embodiments.

Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. Persons skilled in the art will recognize various equivalentcombinations and substitutions for various components shown in thefigures. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention belimited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claimsappended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for scanning a workpiece through acharged particle beam, comprising: mounting a workpiece on a scanningsystem arranged to scan the workpiece through a charged particle beam;performing a first scanning motion of the workpiece through the chargedparticle beam along a circular path that begins and ends insubstantially the same location on the workpiece; and performing asecond scanning of the workpiece through the charged particle beam alonga non-circular path that begins and ends in substantially differentlocations on the workpiece.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thecharged particle beam comprises a gas cluster ion beam (GCIB).
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the circular path extends along a peripheraledge region of the workpiece.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein thenon-circular path extends along a linear or arcuate path across theworkpiece.
 5. A method for treating a substrate with a gas cluster ionbeam (GCIB), comprising: mounting the substrate on a transfer systemthat can place the substrate in a position that intersects the GCIB oris proximate to the GCIB; determining process parameters to remove aportion of the substrate proximate to an edge of the substrate using arotational motion of the substrate; and moving the substrate around theGCIB in the rotational motion, using the transfer system and the processparameters, to remove the portion of the substrate using the GCIB. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the process parameters comprise one ormore of the following: number of scans; scan interval; scan speed;starting radius of the scan; or ending radius of the scan.
 7. The methodof claim 5, wherein the moving of the substrate comprises: placing thesubstrate proximate to GCIB such that the GCIB is located at or withinthe starting radius; varying the rotational motion of the substrate,based, at least in part, on a thickness profile of the substrate; anddisengaging the GCIB from the substrate when the GCIB is located at theending radius.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the process parametersare based, at least in part, on a thickness profile of the substrate andcharacteristics of the GCIB.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein thecharacteristics of the GCIB comprise one or more of the following: abeam profile of the GCIB; one or more energy levels of the GCIB; one ormore dose levels of the GCIB; or one or more chemical components of theGCIB.